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Author
Topic: How many of you take anti-depressants? (Read 57775 times)

Was on antidepressants for years - got tired of the sexual dampening effects and tried to justify why I needed to take them. Unlike others who suffer some serious mental challenges, I decided I was solid enough to go without. I stopped them over a month ago - took two weeks to stop buy halving the dose each week. Some interesting side effects - increased aggressive feelings - I stayed aware and let it out when practicable. Occasional reboots of the brain - a hard one to describe really except to say I would feel that for a split second the world had just zipped left or right. Those effects passed. And of course anxiety and worry, which I control with a deep breath, braking the thought and some rational thinking. You know I've done a lot over time - Xanax, Lexapro, Effexor. Paxil, Ambien and Valium. None of it made me healthier and none of it on balance made my world seem any better than it truly is. I'm done with those drugs. Period. PS - Anybody who is truly in need - I have 2 1/2 months leftover supply of 10mg Lexapro.

Lexapro here. I stopped for about a year but decided I really needed more than I thought I did. Sexual side effects don't really bother me as I have not had sex in nearly a year. But for those personal moments I can work with the side effects

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If you are walking down the street and your pants drop to your ankles bend over pick them up and keep on walking!My Blog

When I was in the most painful part of my therapy my therapist offered me to go on anti-depressants and his suggestion hurt me. I felt like he was somehow rejecting me and what I needed to express - as if what I was going through was too much for him to handle.

The most wonderful thing happened the next session - he brought it up and said he believed that he had hurt me (I hadn't said anything directly about it at the time) and he apologized.

I wanted to deny that he had hurt me and just started to shrug it off, but I stopped myself and admitted what I felt...and this huge weight lifted.

For me I have tried to avoid antidepressants as I have seen a few of my friends on them for too long - and it scares me. I know intellectually it is not true, but some irrational yet strong part of my beliefs is that I need to feel the pain of what I am working through as the the absolute darkness will not get cleared from my head until I explore it with eyes wide open and without any deaden senses.

Please understand that I know the antidepressants won't make me deaded - but just the fear of it is enough to make me want to work through my issues without them.

I started Wellbutrin to stop smoking and have stayed on it even after I quit. Sometimes, though, I feel like it's not strong enough....I find myself occasionally having little breakdowns...I don't know if that's normal or not. I would like to maybe trade up to a higher mg or another antidepressant all together. I'm going to ask my PCP about it on my next visit.

I lost count, but was on them since my 30's (I'm 47 now) before I was diagnosed HIV in 2001. I tried Paxil, Wellbutrin, and others which names I can't recall right now, but am currently on Lexapro after trying a few antidepressants the last few years and Lexapro seems to do the trick. I take Provigil to fight fatigue (I notice another member mentioned fatigue) and also Klonipin for anxiety. After I was diagnosed I had bad panic attacks...I was always prone to them, but the diagnosis put me over the edge. I'm happy to say after six years (as of July 6th!) combined with weekly therapy, I am in a better place. Paul

sorry I couldn't read all of the many postings. I take Xanax whenever I can, and Welbutrin about once a month as needed. I don't like the funny feeling from the welbutrin so I don't take it all the time. Xanax is the bomb.

I have been taking Cymbalta 60 mg once a day for about a year. Helps with peripheral neuropathy as well as depression! I took Effexor XR 75 mg three times a day for 5 years. I also take Zyprexa 2.5 mg at bedtime. I take this is for anxiety. I have battled severe depression and anxiety for 20 years since I discovered I was poz in 1987. Best advice I can give is to find a good shrink that is knowledgeable about psych meds and how they interact with antiretrovirals.

As you found out therapists are very definitely human, and like a lot of people sometimes they too get uncomfortable when powerful feelings are expressed and may not want to know about them. Even though you were just putting it all into words, it can stir a lot of anxiety and sometimes people don't want to tolerate having those feelings. For many the a separation between feeling, thought and going into action is hard to differentiate and therefore very scary. Which ends up with many looking for various ways to supress those feelings.

It's great that you expressed yourself and were then able to sort out something about what was going on with your therapist's response. And not sell yourself out by denying you felt hurt and misunderstood.

To his credit, he was able to acknowledge that truth as well. That's speaks well for a good working relationship.

I have been on anti-depressants since I was 20, Im now 27. I was just diagnosed May 18th. I take Zoloft and it seems to work well for me. My family history has depression all through it. Its no big deal anymore, I know I need it to function.

I take Seroquell, Klonopin and Wellbutrin (which I love too much, being a recovering anorexic...the buzz keeps me food free for days. Have logged more than 22 years as a patient in psych wards. I feel age (or having survived into middle age) has been the best therapy. I long , one day, to float off the Benzos...too much memory loss and Pink Floyd-esque abandon of reality.

Am lucky to have a doctor who believes the mere anxiety of an "042" diagnosis warrants my continued access to the good stuff. As I no longer drink (recent move to sobriety) the anxiety medicines make it possible for me to breathe and not be terrified of the world around me.

I take 200 mg of Ellavil nightly before bed. Have done that for over 5 years, but I am not in that like most people category, I also take 2 /2mg time released zanax a day, and I am still a bit anxious and hyper. Go figure??

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Gordonh28 ( Al )

I have been in St Pete, Fl. for 9 years.Moved here from Miami, I lived there for 12 years. (Diagnosed in 1995)

started Lexapro shortly after being diagnosed + and it really helped - snapped me out of a huge hole I was falling into, but made it so damn difficult to cum I couldn't wait to get off the stuff. Tried adding Welbutrin to counteract the sexual side effects, but it just made me more anxious and didn't help at all. Finally went off about 2 mo ago and doing fine. Hub started taking it and helped him w/no side effects

I started Celexa (citaloram) at 10mg. and it seems to be helping better than Wellbutrin. I take it in the morning because it tends to create sleep issues which I already have (Lunesta for sleep). My partner switched from Wellbutrin to Celexa too. It seems to be helping him quite a bit too. Better living thru pharmacuticals and retail therapy.

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"Accentuate the positive, medicate the negative" Amy Sedaris, actress, comedian, as quoted in the New York Post

I've been on paxil 10mg for almost 2 months, they even it all out.I take trazadone (25-200mgs, depends on my day) to sleep at night, lately been skipping them.I take ativan 1-2 mg for situations or dramas (long car trips, extra stressfull times)i also go to therapy, worry about just taking drugs withought counseling

i'm not happy about taking the drugs and therapy, feel i should be able to 'fix myself'...but a series of events: middle age, bad numbers, bad relationship kinda all hit me at once...i also have been holding a lot of stuff in for years and years that are starting to surface - no fun

i don't want to be one of the people who go to therapy for decades and go thru the whole alphabet of drugs, i'll try to stay hopeful that this current combo will help.

my hiv med is atripla, i know it has some side effects on sleep/dreams, other than some trippy days, i've been ok - hard to tell what is really doing what to my fragile little mind

don't feel bad if you are taking drugs to get your life on track, the options seem to be drinking or street drugs and i've yet to see those self treatments end well